A few months ago my wife surprised me with a very special Birthday present in the form of a brand new CZ 550 Safari Classic in .458 LOTT. The present was not from her (although she played a crucial role in the acquisition of it). It was from my good friend and client JPJ3 – who also contributes to this forum and to whom I’ll be eternally grateful...

A month later I was surprised again when I was presented with a complete reloading kit by my annual group of Levergunners (www.leverguns.com) on the last evening of their hunt with me... Included in the package were .458 LOTT dies and everything else needed to help me start reloading (wonder how they knew about the LOTT – except if they’d been talking to Sabina)

But this post is not about Birthday presents...

Two weeks ago I got another surprise when I received a call from Namibia. The call was from a client who had hunted Elephant and Leopard with us a couple of years ago and he advised that he had just finished a PG hunt in Namibia and had some days free. He wanted to know if we had some time available as he would like to come and visit with us for a week or so. Well, as it turned out we did have some free time, arrangements were made and 2 days later he arrived at Sabrisa...

The next surprise came when the client asked me around the fireplace on his first evening (Friday) here if there was a possibility of a short notice elephant hunt! Now elephant hunts are normally not arranged in a few days but I told him I’d see what I can do, made a few phone calls and by Monday the elephant hunt next to Greater Kruger National Park was booked... I was told not to expect an elephant bull bigger than around 25lbs – which – under the circumstances suited the needs and requirements of my client.

We departed for Phalaborwa early Tuesday morning and arrived there at around 2pm. As the permit hadn’t been issued yet we could not start hunting immediately so we spent the afternoon driving through the hunting area looking for fresh sign of elephant. We found an area with recent elephant activity but did not see any elephants and decided to start hunting that area first as soon as the permit had been issued. The permit was issued the following morning and the hunt commenced...

Having established in which block the elephants would most likely be, we took the tracks of the herd and were fortunate to find them within about an hour. There were about 25 elephants in the herd which mostly comprised of cows with calves. Glassing the herd through the Mopanis I saw two bulls – an older bull with probably 20lbs of ivory a side and a younger bull to the right of the herd. Then I looked left and saw another bull that stood out from the others. This bull was definitely not the in the 25lbs class that I was told to expect. He was thick with more than 2 feet of ivory sticking out – clearly bigger than any of the others and closer to 30lbs! We carefully moved closer and got to about 30 yards from the bull. He was facing us straight-on and there was an opening in the brush through which a frontal brain shot presented itself. I set up the sticks and the client took aim with my Ruger... It was my client’s request for me not to fire an immediate follow up shot unless his shot was clearly not true – which it wasn’t – as at the shot, instead of dropping, the elephant turned and ran, not giving me time for a back-up shot as my view was obscured by a thick Marula tree. “Shoot again!” I said to the client – who still had the elephant in his view – and I heard the rapport of the .375 as he fired a second time...

Gone...

The herd of elephants had left and on the face of things the bull hadn’t broken away from the herd. After tracking them for most of the day without any luck the decision was made to call in the help of a helicopter to try and locate the herd and identify the wounded bull.

In the meanwhile I played and replayed the video footage of the hunt and it appeared that the client’s shot had hit the elephant about a foot low and right – just above the elephant’s left tusk as opposed to the aiming point.

When the helicopter arrived I asked my back-up PH (Chico) to go up with the pilot so that I could stay with my client and lead him in once the whereabouts of the wounded bull had been established. When the chopper however returned I didn’t have good news... They’d located the herd and found a lone bull that (according to Chico looked similar to the one we’d shot) but he didn’t display any signs of being wounded. No blood on the face or anywhere else for that matter... The chopper left and we were back to square one... We headed into the direction where the lone bull had been seen from the air but didn’t connect with him. We also located the herd again (with a few close calls from angry cows with young ones) and checked them through but we couldn’t see our bull amongst them.

The following morning we came across the tracks of two elephants walking together in a different section of the hunting area leading into and out of a waterhole. The tracks of the one elephant was significantly larger than that of the other and we surmised that this was a younger bull walking with an older one. We also found the herd again which was accompanied by two bulls – neither of them resembling the one we had wounded so we decided to follow up on the two bulls we’d seen tracks of in the morning. The client is in his seventies, had hip replacement surgery at the end of last year and did not have the physical ability to keep up with us so he agreed to return to camp while we did the follow-up.

At around 3pm we found them where they were hiding in the Mopanis. I immediately recognized our bull being the older of the two BUT... he didn’t have any blood on him. NOT A DROP. Then they started moving and I just got the faintest impression that the larger bull had a limp... There was not much time to make a decision or to weigh up my options... “Well, we started this – let’s finish it.” I said to Chico. I raised the LOTT, took aim behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger...

At the shot, which was taken from about 20 yards, the elephant curled his back and for a moment it looked like he was going to drop right there. But he didn’t drop, turned towards us and I thought he was coming... Chico’s LOTT roared and his shot turned the elephant – giving me an opportunity to attempt a side brain shot – which I did but I missed the brain and it started moving away from us.

I placed my third shot from behind into its left hip and he crumpled – giving me an opportunity to run around and brain him... That was the end of it... or so I thought...

No .375 Holes!!!

With most of the excitement over we started looking for the first bullet hole and found... NOTHING! Nada, Niks, Not a Thing! And doubt started rising it’s head... I knew this was our bull – there was no question about that. The tusks were the same, his build was the same, EVERYTHING was the same except for a bullet hole above or next to its left tusk that was missing! How was this possible?

A while later the landowner arrived and of course the first thing he wanted to see was evidence that I’d killed the wounded bull and not another. Not being able to find a bullet hole we took photos of distinct markings on the dead elephant’s left ear to compare with the video footage we had taken of the first shot. While doing this Chico inspected the rest of the elephant and found another bullet hole in the stomach on the left hand side of the elephant. We tried fitting our .458 bullets through this hole but it was clearly caused by a smaller calibre. Whilst this alleviated my fears that I might have shot the wrong bull somewhat, the landowner was still not convinced so we returned to camp to pick up the client and review the video footage.

Back at camp we carefully reviewed the video and although not perfectly clear we could see a marking on the elephant that we’d shot the previous day’s ear that resembled the marking on the dead elephant’s ear. Somewhat relieved I returned to the elephant to retrieve my client’s trophy...

The landowner, accompanied by his manager, arrived shortly afterwards and to my surprise the manager said: “We have a strong suspicion that the elephant you shot was not the one that was wounded yesterday. In light thereof we believe it would be in everyone’s interest to butcher the elephant tonight still to see if we can recover the .375 bullet and get clarity on the matter.”

“Well, so be it”, I thought. And agreed that this was the best way forward... This was roughly 6pm...

The first bullet recovered was that of my first shot with the LOTT. It had penetrated just behind the elephant’s right shoulder, shattered the heart and part of the lungs and lodged itself just below the skin about 2 inches from the spot where we’d found the smaller (suspected) .375 entry hole far back in the stomach of the elephant. As the butchery continued we found another .458 LOTT bullet – also a Rhino solid – which was probably the one I fired through the elephant’s hip to anchor it. Things were getting a little tense... my client was tired and wanted to go to bed and someone remarked that there was no way that a .375 bullet could penetrate that far into an elephant... But we continued and I kept faith in my own judgement as well as the performance of my .375...

Finally, 6 hours later at 12pm Sam (the one skinner) shouted in jubilation. “A bullet, I’ve found the bullet!”. Chico was closest to the skinner and grabbed the bullet...”It’s a...

THREE SEVEN FIVE!!!”

he exclaimed... Several hugs and “high fives” later we analyzed the events of the last 2 days...

Sam had found the .375 Barness solid deep inside the elephant’s right shoulder. It had entered the elephant’s stomach about a foot in front of the left hip, travelled all the way through the stomach and guts, narrowly passing the heart before lodging itself in the far shoulder... The only evidence that could be found of the first shot was a graze mark – more or less at the location where the video footage showed the first shot went. This shot did not penetrate and merely blew up dust from the elephant’s hide.

Either way; the elephant was dead, we’d determined that I had made a right decision by taking him down and my client was entitled to a well deserved trophy.

Here is a picture of our ele taken just after it was killed.





It is not the best of pics but right now the only one I've got. I'll post some more later... As it turned out the ivory is closr to 40lbs than the 25lbs we were hoping to find in the area.



What makes this hunt significant for me is:

a.) The .375 H&H rounds that were used by my client in my Ruger for the first and second shots were hand loaded by the same individual that gave me the .458 LOTT as a gift. Had it not been for that second shot and bullet that was subsequently recovered there might still have been doubt as to whether I had made the right decision in shooting the elephant I shot the following day;
b.) That bullet travelled a heck of a long way through the elephant before lodging itself in the far shoulder;
c.) The elephant was finally killed with the .458 LOTT that was given to me by the same individual (jpj3). Thank you JPJ3!!!
d.) It was fitting that the first animal killed with my new .458 LOTT was Africa’s largest game animal – an African Elephant.
e.) The .458 LOTT packs a mean punch and is more than suitable for hunting elephants with! If you could have seen how that elephant reacted after the first shot you’ll know exactly what I mean...

I apologise for any spelling / grammar mistakes in my report... I’ve been celebrating since our return, am grateful to the Man above for protecting me and letting me make the right call during the follow-up and thankful to a wonderful friend and fantastic wife for placing me in possession of a great rifle.

Thank you God, Paul and Sabina!!!

Best to all!

Good job!

By whom ??

Congrats! Very nice

Man, what a roller coaster ride of emotion!

quote:

Originally posted by Tom In Tennessee:
By whom ??

Yes, exactly. While great that the elephant that was finally killed was the wounded one, it could easily have been a mistake.

I would have expected a longer tracking job and/or further observation before making the kill. Happy it worked out!

Further, is it possible that this elephant could have recovered? It was only shot with a 375 ..in a poor place.

Cool story with a great ending! Thanks.

G'day Chris, man, that was tense! Well-done! And some fine friends you have, too. A bit "hectic" as they say in South Africa.

That's enogh excitement for a while !

Please clarify the first shot .375 solid ,did it break up ? did it deflect ? If deflected did it hit at a shallow angle ?

Thanks for those who posted positive comments.

Hunter54, to explain in detail what was done to track down the wounded elephant would have taken several pages which I chose not to for purpose of this post. Let me just say that there was no doubt in my mind that the elephant I shot at was the wounded one - as was proven at the end of the day.

Mete, nope the solid did not break up but did deflect - probably as result of the angle at which it hit the ele's head. We also later found a hole in the ele's left ear that did not match our .458 bullets and suspect that the .375 deflected from the left-side of the ele's head and hit the ele's in its ear. While glassing the ele during the follow-up we were looking for a wound above the tusk and it didn't occur to us to look for a hole in his ear (or his stomach for that matter).

Either way; here's one more pic.

By the grace of God or good luck this turned out for you better than very similar incidents have for several other PHs. A few more steps or greater momentum on the part of that elephant and the ending might have been very different.

to you and your continued health and safety

Glad it turned out well for you - cheers

Orvar

Sounds like a very stressfulltime. I am glad it all worked out.

Congratulations Chris on your perserverance and on a proper christening of your .458 Lott.
Stay safe.

Interesting story. Seems to have been poor shooting by a client who was physically not up the the task but I am learning this may be a common situation. Quite interesting in the use of a helicopter in the attempted recovery. Are they used for scouting as well? Glad it worked out in the end. Sorry my ignorance but what is the definition of a "ranch" you were hunting? Are these like game preserves or fenced?

Hope to hunt an ele one day

Gunslinger,

No, we don't use helicopters to scout with but were fortunate to have access to one to assist us with the follow-up. This elephant was hunted on a 20,000 acre game preserve adjacent to Kruger National Park.

Well Done Chris!!! Glad everything worked out. Good tracking and hard decisions under pressure.

quote:

Originally posted by gunslinger55:
KSeems to have been poor shooting by a client ...

Only by the client?

How many shots did it take by Chris and his associates each, using a 458 Lott, before the elephant succumbed?

I believe it was a total of 5 with the first of these taken at 20 yards.

By Chris' own account he was unable to take a back-up shot because he couldn't see the elephant well enough due to an intervening tree.

Here is what Chris wrote:

quote:

Originally posted by ChrisTroskie:
It was my client’s request for me not to fire an immediate follow up shot unless his shot was clearly not true – which it wasn’t – as at the shot, instead of dropping, the elephant turned and ran, not giving me time for a back-up shot as my view was obscured by a thick Marula tree. “Shoot again!” I said to the client – who still had the elephant in his view – and I heard the rapport of the .375 as he fired a second time ...

We might be reading of another death or life-threatening injury had that elephant or one of the others had chosen to charge rather than run away.

So again I'd say the following is advice we should all consider:

Use the biggest caliber you can shoot precisely and accurately; practice enough with the firearm so that it requires no "thinking" to use it safely, accurately and repeatedly (i.e. recharging it); don't be of the mind that "my PH can finish the job if I get in trouble" - unless he can't due to unforseen problems (gun, ammo, injury, dealing with another animal bent on making you toe jam, intervening obstacles, etc).

quote:

Originally posted by CCMDoc:

quote:

Originally posted by gunslinger55:
KSeems to have been poor shooting by a client ...

Only by the client?

How many shots did it take by Chris and his associates each, using a 458 Lott, before the elephant succumbed?

I believe it was a total of 5 with the first of these taken at 20 yards.

By Chris' own account he was unable to take a back-up shot because he couldn't see the elephant well enough due to an intervening tree.

Hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy to analyze or even criticize events such as these after the fact...

The only shot that will kill and down an elephant instantly with ANY calibre is a brain shot. As the elephant was busy moving at the time of my first shot I opted to go for a (safer) heart / lung shot which was in fact a kill shot - even though the elephant did not die right there and then.

When an elephant is running away from you, you have one of two options - breaking the spine or breaking the hip in order to anchor the animal. This was the shot that was attempted and it did have the desired effect.

I find words such as "poor shooting" based on my OP (of which the primary aim was to give an account of my .458's first kill) interesting under the circumstances. I guess none of the posters on this thread have ever made any bad shots or decisions... But then again... hindsight is 20/20...

Not me, Chris. I know how stuff happens out in the bush, on buffalo (and other animals). I definitely know what it is to make mistakes. And I also know that big animals can have destroyed vitals, and still keep going, especially when charged-up on adrenaline, and they require more shots to put them down as quickly as possible, rather than waiting for the first to take affect, or admiring the first. After that first shot, keep shooting until it's down, and then shoot again. I don't have a problem with this situation at all.

quote:

Originally posted by ChrisTroskie:
Hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy to analyze or even criticize events such as these after the fact...

Precisely!

My statements were in response to those who are so quick to "pile-on" the client.

That's hunting (vs. shooting) and the variables are too many to anticipate - but all who were actually there owe themselves and their future game an honest self-evaluation. We should each strive to be better tomorrow than we are today.

Well in that case we're on the same page sir.

I also feel that one should not start throwing stones at the client based on my record of the events in the OP. It was certainly not my intention to do so and I feel it is unfair for others to do so without any info at their disposal other than what was written by one individual (me).

Sometimes we all need to do a little introspection before making hasty comments about others... This just might make the World a better place to live in.